Stranded (Season 4, Episode 2)
by bionic4ever
Summary: Season 4, Episode 2: Jaime, Steve and Rudy are finally taking a vacation, but someone wants to make their time away permanent. When the private yacht is hijacked, will anyone escape alive? Thanks to The Bionic Project and special thanks to Julie.
1. Prologue

**Stranded**

Prologue

In the earliest hours of the morning, when the moon hid behind a cloud, the ocean looked like polished black glass. Silence (the absence of wind) was not as large a threat to this ship as were the small, muffled sounds that took its place. A bullet fired through a specially-crafted attachment and the quiet _splooosh _of a body hitting the water were not enough to awaken the blissfully slumbering passengers.

Jaime had been the first to fall asleep. She was so excited to finally be free from the hospital, and a vacation on a well-appointed and staffed (OSI-owned) mini-yacht had her giddy with joy. Steve and Rudy were exhausted just watching her. She had rebounded so beautifully from the car crash that had nearly killed her! While her memory had done a rapid-rewind back to the day of her skydiving accident, she could do any necessary re-learning in Steve's arms, and Jaime was finding there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

There was so much to relearn! Jaime had only the most basic, rudimentary knowledge of bionics and how they worked, and most of the time period between her skydiving accident and the car crash (including her work as an operative) was still a mystery to her. It was hoped that this trip would allow her questions to be answered gradually, in a more relaxed, peaceful setting and that she would grow closer to Rudy as well, since she and Steve often had to entrust him with their very lives.

Steve and Rudy, sharing the other cabin across the hall from Jaime's, made sure she was settled in for the night then had a martini together on the deck before lying down themselves. They'd been asleep for several hours when the body hit the water. They didn't notice the ship's drastic change of direction and never heard the engine rev harder as the ship began heading at full speed away from the land and out into the open ocean.

The captain didn't notice, either; he was beyond seeing anything at all, after his unwilling swan dive and unceremonious splooosh. The was a stranger at the helm of the ship, navigating through the endless black glass toward his own destination.

- - - - - -


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The first to fall asleep was also the first one awake; Jaime had always loved watching the sunrise. She dressed quickly, donning her favorite swimsuit with a sarong wrapped around her hips, then stopped in the galley just long enough to grab an orange before heading out to a lounge chair on the back deck to enjoy the early-morning scenery.

Steve followed a few minutes later, and even though the sky was ablaze with the brilliance of a tropical sunrise, he barely noticed. His eyes rested only on Jaime, and she took his breath away. She looked so relaxed, so peaceful, that he hesitated in the doorway, savoring this view as much as Jaime was loving the light show on the horizon.

"Good morning!" she said brightly, bouncing from the chair to kiss him. They stood together at the stern, watching from the railing until the pinks, oranges and reds finally yielded to a bright, golden sun. Jaime leaned closer, nestling into Steve's arms and sighing contentedly. "It seems so much brighter here."

Steve tipped her face toward his with a gentle, loving hand. "Absolutely beautiful," he agreed, not even glancing at the sky. Suddenly, a realization hit him: they were supposed to be cruising up the coastline, traveling North. Why had they just seen the sun come up from _behind _the ship?

"What's wrong?" Jaime asked, picking up his change in mood immediately.

Steve shook the thought away and smiled at her. "Probably nothing," he hedged. He glanced to his right, off the starboard railing, and even with his eye fully focused and searching, he saw no sign of land. Something was definitely wrong. Now that he thought about it, the cook should have been out and offering breakfast, long before now, but the ship was strangely quiet. Not wanting to alarm Jaime, he led her back to her lounge chair and kissed her softly. "Why don't you wait here, L'il Lady," he suggested in his best Southern drawl, "and I'll rustle us up some coffee and biscuits."

Jaime giggled and stretched out onto the chair while Steve headed for the gallery, by way of the bridge. The door was closed and locked, but Steve could see the captain at the helm, searching the waters with a huge pair of binoculars. He tapped on the window but got no response. When he focused in with his eye and saw the compass needle pointing due West (straight out into the ocean!) and the captain pressing the throttle all the way forward, Steve had seen enough.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded, kicking the door open. "We're already off-course and you're firing up the engines? Are you crazy?" The man at the helm turned slowly, and Steve saw the face of a stranger.

"Quite a brilliant deduction," the 'captain' sneered, "but you're wrong. We're exactly where I want us to be, and right on schedule, too."

Steve swung his right arm out and caught the laughing man in the stomach, knocking him away from the helm and onto the floor, then he picked up the radio microphone to call for help. "Mayday," he began, "this is SnowBird2 -" The device seemed to explode in his hand, the result of another muffled gunshot. The bullet passed straight through Steve's right hand, destroying the radio, the compass and most of the electrical panel surrounding it, and he dropped what was now a silent, useless hunk of metal and wire and turned toward the source of the shot.

Steve's heart sank as his mind scrambled to make sense of what was happening. Two well-armed men in crew uniforms – they were _not _crew – grabbed Steve, forced handcuffs onto his wrists and shoved him roughly to the ground, next to a second captive who was already lying motionless on the cold steel floor.

_Rudy._

_- - - - - -_

Jaime was still stretched comfortably across her lounge chair, lost in a daydream, when her rumbling stomach roused her and she began to wonder about breakfast. Where was Steve? He wasn't in the galley, and neither was the cook. Figuring he'd probably slept in after the lavish late supper he'd crafted for them last night, Jaime got coffee started herself before heading toward the cabins to look for Steve. She'd barely raised her hand to knock on his door when a huge arm snaked around her waist, pulling her off her feet, and a beefy hand forced a drug-soaked rag over her mouth and nose.

Jaime's OSI training was a lost memory, and her first instinct was to gasp in surprise. It was all she had time to do before the floor spun out from beneath her and her world went dark.

- - - - - -


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

While Steve was being cuffed and secured, the 'captain' was fuming. _"Imbecile!_" he raved at the errant gunman. "We're supposed to meet our contacts in less than an hour! Any suggestions how we might find them now?"

Steve stayed quiet and still on the ground next to Rudy, who he suspected was feigning unconsciousness. The bullet through his hand, while not painful in itself, had sent shock waves coursing through his body and he struggled to regain his senses.

The shooter shrugged. "Just call -" his eyes fell on the decimated radio. "Oh. Ah...Well, we have the coordinates, don't we?"

"Of course we do!" the leader snapped. "But without radar or even a compass, they are only useless numbers. How could you be so stupid?"

"I thought it might be in our best interests not to have the Coast Guard, the Navy and half the US Government breathing down our -"

The two men might have come to blows (or something worse) when the heavy footsteps of two more thugs clanked up the stairs and into the bridge room. Steve's heart broke when he saw they were dragging Jaime's limp body between them.

"Got another one for ya, Boss," one of them sputtered.

"Terrific," the 'captain' growled. "It's a regular party."

"This is all of 'em – Goldman's not on board."

"We have more than enough without him," the leader surmised, glancing at Rudy and Steve. "This pretty little lady is just icing on the cake. Put them in the hold while I figure out how to find our friends. Make sure they won't be going anywhere." He turned back toward the ruined controls and swore to himself as the three captives were dragged away.

- - - - - -

'The Hold' was really just a small storage space located under and behind the galley, with sacks of potatoes and apples and cases of liquor lining the walls. "Did you see his hand?" one of the thugs commented when they reached the top of the little fold-down stairway. "Who the hell has wires in their hand?"

"You mean _what _has wires," the man who'd fired the shot laughed. "We got ourselves a robot. A regular Frankenstein's monster." He nodded toward Rudy. "And meet Doctor Frankenstein." Steve remained silent, resisting the urge to kick out and overpower him since two of the others held guns uncomfortably close to Jaime and Rudy's heads.

"Just how indestructible are you, Robot?" his captor taunted. He maneuvered Steve over to the opening and, without bothering to release the stairs, punched him in the stomach and shoved him into the hold. Steve tumbled nearly eight feet to the floor, his head thudding to rest on a pile of loose potatoes. He fought a losing battle for alertness as the stairs were lowered and his tormentor quickly bound his legs with thick, nautical rope and tightly-wound coils of duct tape. He was fading in and out as Rudy and Jaime were brought down the stairs and secured in similar fashion. Extra rope was wrapped around Steve's chest, binding his already cuffed arms to his body and making it difficult to breathe. After one more kick to the back of his head, 'just for fun', the four thugs were gone, retracting the stairs and slamming the hatch shut behind them.

When Steve's eyes could focus again, he saw Jaime lying quiet and motionless next to him, but at first, he couldn't see the doctor. "...Rudy...?" he ventured, very softly.

"Over here," Rudy answered, from somewhere on the other side of Steve's feet. "I'm alright." Through sheer determination, he rolled across the floor and propped himself into a partial sitting position behind Steve and Jaime's heads, leaning up against the crates of wine. "But...you're not," Rudy noted, getting his first look at Steve. A jagged piece of metal, about the length of a small paring knife, protruded from the base of Steve's neck – a remnant from the exploded control panel that Steve hadn't even felt...until he saw Rudy looking at it.

He could feel it now, but the pain was nothing compared to what he felt when he looked over at Jaime. "What'd they do to her?" he groaned, aching to reach for her, to hold her, but able only to look and to worry.

"I could smell chloroform when they were bringing us down," Rudy told him. "Maybe they didn't hurt her...if she didn't fight them." Although Jaime had fully recovered from the injuries she'd suffered in the car crash, she had come so close to death and still seemed so fragile that both men feared deeply what any further trauma might do to her.

Rudy, whose hands were tied in front of his body, managed to reach out and brush the hair from Jaime's eyes, trying to rouse her. "Jaime? Can you hear me, Honey?" he said gently.

There was no response.

- - - - - -


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Steve and Rudy began carefully weighing their options. It didn't take long; there was very little they could do. Rudy anxiously eyed the wound to Steve's neck. It wasn't bleeding much, but the position on the debris made him nervous. While he could potentially grasp the edges of the metal fragment with his fingers and remove it, there was no telling how much damage might be done. With no way to put pressure on the wound or bandage it, he didn't dare.

Steve stared intently at Jaime, trying to will her back to consciousness but unsure what to do if she did wake up. For the last three years, before the crash, they had been the OSI's best team, able to function smoothly – almost as a single unit. Their combined knowledge and abilities had made them virtually unstoppable, but for Jaime those abilities were in the past. She had the same strength, but with very little knowledge of how to channel it and none of the combat or stealth training to be able to use it.

Still, she was their only hope. Somehow, they had to not just rouse her but help her find a way to break her own bonds so she could free the two of them. Otherwise, they were all essentially helpless.

- - - - - -

Oscar had just fastened his lap belt and was sitting back in the seat with his eyes closed as the plane began to taxi when it abruptly stopped on the tarmac. Two dark-suited security officers hustled him off into a waiting limo, where he was immediately handed a car phone with Russ on the other end.

"Oscar, we've got a problem," the young Assistant Director said breathlessly.

"I gathered that when they took me off the plane, Russ. What's going on?"

"We got a mayday call from SnowBird2. Steve got cut off before he could finish, and -"

"Steve? What about the captain?"

"We don't know. We're trying to send assistance, but they've disappeared from radar."

"What do you mean, disappeared?"

"We've been unable to reach them by radio and...we can't find them, Oscar."

- - - - - -

Rudy moved as close as he could get to Jaime's prone body and continued stroking her face while he and Steve both spoke softly to her and after several very tense minutes, a tiny moan escaped her lips and her eyelids fluttered. Her eyes opened slowly and, finding herself unable to move, she began to panic. Rudy placed his bound hands on her shoulder to steady her and looked directly into her eyes.

"Honey," he began, keeping his voice calm and even, "it'll be okay. We'll get through this, but we need your help. Are you hurt?"

"No-o-o..." she said slowly, frightened tears forming in her eyes. "Where's Steve?"

"Right here, Sweetheart."

"Oh, no..." she mumbled, spotting his neck right away when she turned her head. "What happened? Why...?"

"Jaime," Steve said carefully, "we're gonna get out of here. We can do it if we work together. Okay?"

Jaime nodded, trying hard to swallow her fear. "What do you want me to do?"

"We have to get untied. Can you move your hands?"

Jaime rolled over on her side and nodded again. "Yeah; I think so. Should I break the ropes?"

"No – you'll break your other arm," Steve explained. "I need you to slide over to Rudy and slip your fingers under the rope around his wrists. Once you get him free, he'll untie us."

Jaime complied, but paused with her fingers hooked under the bindings. "Just my fingers?"

"You can do it – trust me. Don't think about it, just pull up and they'll come apart."

Jaime did as he instructed and soon Rudy's hands were free. The doctor rewarded her with a warm and comforting hug and then untied her hands. "You can break the ones on your legs," he told her as he began cutting Steve loose. Carefully, they propped Steve up against the potato sacks and without needing to be asked, Jaime snapped the cuffs from his wrists.

Steve glanced at his watch. "We've got about 20 minutes to come up with a plan," he told Jaime. Rudy busied himself with gathering whatever he could find to treat Steve's wound, then splashed vodka on his hands and on a towel he found among the crates. Without a warning that might've made Steve cringe or pull away, he quickly plucked the offending debris from his neck and held the towel in its place.

Steve grimaced in pain but forced himself back to the task at hand. "They know about my bionics," he said quietly, "but I don't think they know about yours, so -"

"So that makes me the secret weapon," Jaime surmised.

"Something like that. If they start firing – and they probably will – then take cover behind the crates and try to hit them with whatever you can grab. Bottles are good, but potatoes oughta work, too. Just throw 'em with everything you've got. We have to get to the stairs, but we'll never make it if we don't take them down first. Rudy, I want you to stay behind that pile of sacks over there until everything is clear."

Jaime nodded solemnly, and they looked up as they realized the ship's engines had stopped. Sensing the terror she was trying so hard to hide, Steve took her hand. "We'll be okay," he repeated. "We can do this."

Jaime nodded again, leaning into him for just a moment and drawing new strength from the love in Steve's eyes. Suddenly, her body stiffened in his arms. "I hear a boat," she whispered.

- - - - - -


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Steve asked. Jaime frowned in concentration, and he could tell she was having trouble isolating the conversation. "Don't try so hard," he suggested. "Just listen for anything, and then focus in on whatever you manage to catch."

Jaime closed her eyes. "Someone just said 'Got three of them for you'." She took a deep breath, trying to relax and hear them. "We got the doctor, Austin...and some woman," she repeated. "What about Goldman?" "Sorry, just the three."

The ship rocked slightly, and Jaime stepped closer to Steve. "Someone's coming aboard!"

As Jaime moved closer to him, Steve instinctively circled his arm around her waist, and as she reached for his hand, she spotted the hole through his palm and shuddered visibly. Rudy and Steve had explained the concept to her as best they could, but it was the first time she'd actually seen _wires,_ and it left her temporarily speechless.

"Are you...alright?" she whispered?

Steve knew right away what she was seeing and thinking. "It's not serious," he assured her. "My fingers are acting a little funky, but it's nothing to worry about."

"Does it hurt?"

"Not really. It did when it happened, but not now." He kissed her softly, and looked up at the hatch. "Are they coming yet?" There would hopefully be plenty of time to talk about bionics later – if they managed to get out of this.

Jaime shook her head. "They're arguing. They...they all want to get on the other boat. This ship is stranded." She looked questioningly at Steve. "Stranded?"

"The instrument panel is gone. So is the radio. What else are they saying?"

"The boat isn't big enough and that wasn't the agreement. And...Austin and Wells will have to pay for Goldman, too." When she looked at Steve again, Jaime's eyes were wide with fear. "They're coming."

- - - - - -

"We lost their signal about an hour ago," Russ explained as he and Oscar stared at the huge bank of radar screens. "We can still pick them up by sonar, but only if we're close enough. I've already got everyone on this – the Coast Guard, the Navy and even the Air Force choppers. No sign of the ship yet; they must be way off course."

"We have to find them," Oscar repeated for at least the tenth time.

"The weather's been perfectly calm, so if they've gone down, it wasn't by Nature's hand -"

"Gone down?"

"Oscar, they just don't seem to be anywhere. The ship may have been sunk. Our teams are looking for lifeboats, survivors...and possibly bodies."

- - - - - -

The hatch door opened with a hard, angry yank from above, and Steve's eyes met Jaime's for one more silent 'good luck' and 'I love you'. They both stood out of sight of anyone looking down, forcing their captors down the stairs.

"Where the hell are they?" an angry voice snarled.

Steve and Jaime struck from opposite sides of the rickety stairs, pushing the second man down into the first and sending them both sprawling across the floor. As expected, guns were drawn immediately, and Steve managed to stomp the gun hand of the first one down, knocking his gun away to where Jaime could crush it under her foot. Jaime struck the second man with a wine bottle as she dove behind the crates and bullets were whizzing past Steve's head as he bent down and quickly disarmed him.

The other three men stood firing from the stairs, and Steve ran behind them and began lifting the stairs from underneath, trying to throw them off. Confused, the man closest to the bottom jumped off and whirled around, his weapon inches from Steve's chest.

"NO!" Jaime yelled, distracting him before he could pull the trigger. When he looked up, she hit him squarely between the eyes with a large, rotten potato. The fourth man began firing multiple random shots and Jaime moved under the stairs to help Steve. Together, they raised the stairs halfway to the ceiling then dropped them, sending the gunman flying headfirst into a pile of apples. He continued shooting as he fell, emptying the weapon toward the stairs, trying to take down Jaime and Steve. The bullets hit the last man on the stairs (the one who had just boarded the ship), instead, but there was no blood.

"Impressive, my friend," the man said to Steve. "Unfortunately, not quite enough."

Jaime got a good look at him first, and she gasped. He'd been hit by bullets in both legs and in his shoulder, but instead of blood, she saw gaping holes full of...wires? Steve turned and was as shocked as Jaime, but for a different reason. He _knew _this man well!

Steve's mouth fell open in surprise before he was able to find any words. Finally, he sputtered out a name. _**"Barney?"**_

- - - - - -


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Where is my old buddy, the Good Doctor?" Barney sneered. "I know he's down here. Rudy, you may as well be friendly and say hello. There really is nowhere you can hide that I won't find you in one minute or less."

Rudy rose from behind the sacks, staring at his second cyborg in complete disbelief. "Barney, what are you doing? Why...?"

Jaime looked from the apparently bionic stranger to Steve and Rudy, who both seemed to know him. Confused and very frightened, she backed into a crate and sat down, unsure what to say or do.

Hiller laughed. "Isn't that my role – to be 'the Bad One'? Not good enough to stay bionic like the great Steve Austin – oh no! They had to 'tune me down', send me to the corner like a bad little boy. I am exactly what you made me; both of you."

"What about Carla?" Steve asked. "You were starting a new life together. You were happy."

"Ha! Carla took our son and left me! You didn't know that? I couldn't be the OSI's wonder boy, and I guess I couldn't be a husband, either, but I'll make up for all of that now. It's just a shame Oscar couldn't make it to our little party -"

"What is it, Barney?" Rudy probed. "Money?"

"If I wanted money, I could've sold my own damn limbs! They're certainly no good to me anymore. What good is money when you have no life? No; everything I lost is gone because of the two of you and Goldman. The men I came here with think they're about to score the purchase of a lifetime, but I just needed their resources to pull this off. Any second now..." he paused and looked up with a near-psychotic grin and soon a loud explosion from outside rocked the ship. "Yep," Barney continued, "that's it for them. Down with the ship, so to speak."

Steve knew that if he'd destroyed the boat he'd come in, he truly had lost his mind, and he stepped over one of the fallen gunman, toward Barney.

Hiller had other plans. He removed a large pistol from his jacket and lunged toward Jaime, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to her feet. "I'll need your help, Steve – I know you don't wanna see this little girl get hurt."

"Let her go!" Steve demanded. "She's got nothing to do with this."

"Maybe not, but she's some mighty pretty leverage. Who is she, anyway? Your girlfriend? Your wife, maybe? Or just some bimbo you picked up for the cruise? Doubt that, from the look on your face." Hiller's laugh was chilling. "Get those ropes and tie up my friends here – nice and tight – or she won't be so pretty anymore."

Jaime struggled weakly, but with no training she was beginning to panic. Barney began running his fingers through her hair as he held the gun to her head and she cringed and tried to pull away. "Do it now, Steve," Hiller ordered, "or there's no telling what I'll do to her."

His eyes blazing, Steve began securing the four gunman. Rudy bent down to help him and was thus the first person to notice that water had begun to pool around their feet. Steve followed his glance and he saw it, too: debris from the other boat had penetrated the wall just along the floor line and they were in serious trouble. Steve finished with the last gunman and then turned to face their adversary.

"We're going down, too," he said quietly. "Maybe I can still get to the radio on the other boat – to call for help."

"We're not going anywhere but down," Barney told him, grinning madly. "That other boat? Blew a hole clean through it. They're shark food already, and good riddance."

"At least let me put her on a lifeboat," Steve pleaded.

"Sure is a shame she has to pay for your sins," Barney mused. "Maybe this'll help her feel a little better, at least for now." Still holding the gun and digging the fingers of his other hand painfully into Jaime's shoulder, he spun her around and pulled her close to his face, kissing her.

Jaime was frozen in fear and revulsion, but Steve had seen enough. While Hiller's attention was focused on tormenting Jaime and torturing Steve with the sight of it, Steve lunged for the gun with his right arm and pushed Jaime down with his left. Hiller fired a shot as Steve shoved him away, barely missing both Jaime and Rudy and putting a new hole in the already-weakened wall. Jaime scrambled to her feet, grabbed a bottle of brandy and smashed their attacker in the back of the head as Steve held him down, trying to disarm him. Finally, Barney dropped the gun.

"Let's get outta here!" Steve told Jaime and Rudy.

Barney laughed bitterly as the trio ran up the stairs. "Good luck with that."

The reached the open deck and stared in dismay at the empty davit. The lifeboat was gone.

- - - - - -


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Over here!" Rudy called, motioning to a large metal bin filled with life jackets. "And grab the cushions from the lounge chairs," he instructed as they each strapped on a jacket. "That'll help, too."

Steve removed a long piece of rope from the empty davit. "Once we jump, we'll link together, so no one gets lost," he explained, wrapping an arm around Jaime who had begun to shiver in spite of the intense tropical-like heat. "Hopefully, I'll be able to spot land we can swim to, or they'll have rescue boats out looking for us..."

"And the sharks?" Jaime added.

"Don't think about it," Steve told her quietly. "Sweetheart, are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm...okay," she told him, looking anything but alright. "I'm just...really scared."

"We'll stay close together; we'll make it," he assured her, hoping against hope it was really true. He began gently easing her toward the railing.

"What about them?" Jaime asked, glancing back toward the galley and the Hold beneath it.

"What about 'em?"

"We can't just...leave them here!"

Steve drew Jaime into his arms, gently pulling her close. "We can't keep all of them afloat and save ourselves, too. Besides, they tried to _kill _us. I know how you feel, and it does seem rough, but if it's us or them, we both know what the obvious choice has to be." Tenderly, he caressed her cheeks and wiped away her tears, trying to calm her. Steve knew that once they hit the water, fear or panic could be deadly. "Helluva vacation, huh?"

"I want my money back," Jaime whispered.

Rudy quickly ran back to the galley and threw a few supplies into three rucksacks, tying one to his back and bringing the other two back to Jaime and Steve. He returned just as the ship took a sudden, violent lurch and the stern fell lower in the water. "We're going down," Rudy announced. "It's time." As they all stepped to the railing, the doctor looked at the hole in Steve's hand. "You have to try and keep that dry, you know."

Steve glanced down at the ocean and back at Rudy and simply nodded, knowing that would be next to impossible. The water had risen to just feet from the railing and they knew they were almost out of time, but Jaime stood completely still, unable to move as she stared at the endless horizon and the dark, deep water.

"I can't do it," she said, shaking visibly.

"You _have _to," Steve told her, kissing her gently. Very carefully, he lifted her into his arms, over the railing, and placed her in the water. Jaime shuddered, her head bobbing down below the surface and Steve jumped in beside her, easing her body upright and holding her as she coughed out the salt water. The wound on his neck stung terribly but he gritted his teeth and kept on moving. Once Rudy had joined them, Steve linked them all together by looping the rope through their life jackets, then he began kicking with all his strength, pulling all three of them through the water, away from the sinking ship.

Once Jaime had regained her bearings, she began to kick, too and when they were far enough away to avoid going down in the undertow, they leaned onto their cushions to rest and regroup. The ship was nearly upended now, going down by the stern, and Steve shielded Jaime's view with his body so she wouldn't have to watch it sink the rest of the way into the ocean. Mentally, he was fully prepared to fight Barney if he surfaced and came after them, but there was no further sign of their attacker.

"I don't see land anywhere," Steve announced, scanning the horizon in every direction. "But judging from the sun, that way is East – toward the Mainland."

"We'll never make it that far..." Jaime said softly.

"Hopefully, they'll be an island, or a rescue team – something. We just have to keep going." Once the sun was gone and there was no reference point to guide them, they'd be adrift and needed to cover as much distance as possible while they still could. "Do you hear anything?" he asked Jaime. "A boat, or maybe a chopper?"

"Nothing..."

"Let's keep going, then," Steve suggested. "Rudy, just hold onto your cushion and let our legs do the work."

Pulling Rudy between them so he wouldn't be engulfed by the wake kicked up by two pairs of bionic legs, Jaime and Steve resumed kicking with everything they had, heading across the seemingly endless stretch of water, toward land they were unable to see and could only hope for.

- - - - - -


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

There was no way to tell how far they'd gone, or where they were, but when the sun had completely disappeared, the trio stopped for the night and began to float. "We can take turns resting," Steve suggested. "Jaime, why don't you close your eyes for a little while. We'll watch you."

"You're the one who's hurt," she protested.

"I'm fine. C'mon, stretch out across the cushion." Steve helped ease her into a more comfortable, somewhat prone position and placed his left arm under the cushion to keep it buoyed up in the water. "Just try and relax; you've gotta rest, Sweetheart," he urged.

"He's right," Rudy agreed. "We won't let you go under."

"I am kinda tired," Jaime allowed, closing her eyes. Soon, she'd drifted into a restless, uneasy version of sleep.

Alone in the dark, they were at the mercy of the ocean. The wind, absent for almost 24 hours, started to howl, tossing them about in the waves, and they began to drift aimlessly...

- - - - - -

The mood at the Command Center was tense and grim. Oscar had nearly worn out the soles of his brand-new shoes as he moved from one monitoring station to the next, hoping for any sign of his friends. When Russ finally emerged from the outer office with news, his head was down and his lips were pursed tightly with the stress of not knowing quite how to break this to his boss. He stood silently for a few moments until Oscar stopped pacing and stared numbly at him.

"What is it?" Oscar demanded, knowing from his expression that it wasn't good news.

"We found the ship via sonar," Russ said slowly. "It's...down, Oscar."

"Down, as in sunk?"

"Yeah. No sign of any survivors, but it's so dark that we really have no way to tell until morning."

"They could be trapped on board?" Oscar asked in horror.

"No. If they didn't get off the yacht, there's no way..." Russ couldn't finish, but Oscar understood.

"Well, we HAVE to know, and it can't wait until morning! If they weren't trapped, then they're still out there somewhere. Get the dive teams out or pull the ship up – whatever we have to do -"

"We can't send dive teams down there in the dark!"

"We have no choice! Get every available person on this, and if they aren't available, MAKE them available! Get into that ship tonight – they may not last until morning!" Oscar slammed a fist into the nearest desk for emphasis and resumed his steady, furious pacing.

- - - - - -

The rain on Jaime's face woke her just before a wave sent her crashing into Steve. His left arm had still been supporting her while she slept, but when his right arm shot out to try and break her fall, it was obvious something was wrong. They slammed into each other and sank under the water together, then Jaime instinctively threw her arms around Steve's waist and kicked for the surface, where they both emerged sputtering and shaken.

"Your arm," she gasped as they grabbed their cushions, "it's..."

"It's not good," he agreed. "Rudy, I think I'm in trouble."

"Can you move it?" the doctor asked, kicking himself over to Steve's side.

"Sort of, but I can't control it. And my fingers are gone; they aren't moving."

Jaime reached over to put a hand on his other arm, wishing there was something she could do. She couldn't remember ever feeling so helpless. "Does it hurt?" she asked quietly.

"No. My neck does, though."

Rudy wished he had some kind of light for a proper exam, but he knew that with the lack of any sort of bandage, the neck wound was likely already infected. Before he could attempt to check it out, a huge wave lifted all three of them up into the air and slammed them roughly, head over heels, back into the water. They scrambled to catch their breath and their cushions when something caught Jaime's eye.

"What's that?" she called out, pointing into the distance. Steve raised his head but fell weakly back onto the floating cushion. His strength was depleted. A large, dark, unidentifiable form loomed a few hundred yards away. Ship, land, or something else – friend or foe – it was the only alternative they had. Jaime gathered all her energy and her courage and, holding both sides of the rope firmly in her hand, began kicking toward what would either be their salvation...or their doom.

- - - - - -


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Oscar hung up the receiver as though it was on fire. He stared at the offending phone, numb with shock until a wave of grief hit him with such intensity that he had to sink into a chair. Five bodies had been recovered from the sunken yacht. Four men, bound hand and foot, appeared to have been the ship's crew. It must have been a hijacking, Oscar deduced. The fifth body, found somewhere near the galley, was also male and had been shot three times. The wounds – in both legs and the right arm – revealed the presence of...bionics.

It had to be Steve, but Oscar couldn't conceive of it, couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that one of his best friends was dead. It was nearly morning, and the bodies were to be brought ashore for a positive ID. He wasn't sure how well he'd be able to carry on after that, but right now Oscar had work to do: teams to re-organize and searches to plan and supervise. Two of his friends were out there somewhere and maybe – just maybe – they were still alive.

- - - - - -

Jaime felt as though she'd been kicking for hours, and with the wind and the waves working against her, she actually had. Her strength was fading fast, but with one quick glance behind her, she gathered what was left of her reserves and kept on going. Steve had been fading in and out of consciousness, with Rudy struggling to keep Steve's head (and his own) above water, kicking a bit to help move them forward when he could.

Finally, their target was directly in front of them. In the dark, it resembled the hull of a ship but was really an out-cropping of rocks on a tiny patch of land that was too small to be called an island. As soon as Jaime was able to propel herself out of the water, dragging the two men with her, she collapsed onto the strip of warm, soft sand, her body completely depleted. Rudy got to work unfastening the rope and positioning the cushions under the heads of his two friends (who were once again his patients) and then withdrew a water bottle from his rucksack and leaned back against a rock to rest for a few minutes. Before he knew it, he, too, was fast asleep.

Morning's arrival brought only partial light as the sun was buried behind masses of gray-black clouds being whipped about by an approaching storm front. Steve began to thrash restlessly, rousing Rudy from his slumber.

"Jaime..." Steve mumbled, not entirely awake and not at all aware.

"She's right here, Steve," the doctor told him, trying to calm his movements so he could check him out. "I'm here, too; can you hear me?"

"Rudy...where's Jaime?" His eyes opened partway and then rolled back into his head.

Rudy took Steve's left wrist; his pulse was rapid, thready and very weak. Carefully, he stretched out Steve's left arm enough to place his hand over Jaime's. "Here she is," Rudy answered. "She's resting. Been quite a night for all of us." Rudy took a small towel from one of the rucksacks, soaked it in the ocean and laid it across Steve's neck to sterilize the wound. It didn't look as bad as he'd expected to find it – red and angry, but not too swollen.

Steve flinched as the salt water cleansed the wound, then opened his eyes and turned his head toward Jaime. "Is she okay? Where are we?"

Rudy moved over to check on Jaime. Her face was very pale but her vital signs were strong. "She's fine, Steve," he assured his friend. "I'm not sure where we are, but she got us here last night, all on her own. She's an amazing lady."

Steve smiled weakly, tightening his hand around Jaime's fingers. Jaime responded with a deep sigh and moved toward Steve, wrapping herself partially across his chest as she slowly returned to full consciousness.

"Hi there," he said very softly when her eyes met his.

"Are we...alright?" she whispered, trying to orient herself.

Steve smiled at her. "We're safe for now – thanks to you, Sweetheart." He used his left arm to hold her close and she clung to him gratefully.

Rudy noticed that Steve's right arm was lying useless and still at his side. Had the power source been fried? Would he be thrown into bionic rejection – or worse? With no instruments and no resources, all Rudy could do for the moment was hope for the best. He brought out the water bottles and helped Steve and Jaime each take a good, long replenishing drink.

"We have to find shelter, or make one if we can," Steve said, looking at a sky that was more threatening by the minute.

"I'll look around," Jaime offered, rising to her feet.

"I'll help you," Steve said, attempting to get up.

Rudy halted him with a firm hand on his shoulder. "You're not in any shape to be moving around. There isn't much ground to cover; she'll be just fine." He eased Steve back into a prone position in the sand just as the rain began to fall and thunder boomed out across the water.

- - - - - -


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Oscar's knees threatened to buckle beneath him as he watched the boat pull in and dock. In a few minutes, he would have to climb aboard and identify the body of one of the best friends he'd ever had. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Oscar doubted his ability to handle the situation. _Knock it off, _he told himself sternly. _You owe this to Steve._

"Oscar," Russ said from a few feet behind him, trying to allow him the privacy of a little distance, "I'll take care of this if you want me to."

"Thank you," Oscar said, unable to meet Russ's worried gaze. "I _need _to do this." He looked toward the shore, where Jack Hansen and his men waited beside an armored vehicle, ready to take possession of the 'government property' that Steve's body would become once identified. "See if you can hold off the jackals," he requested, "at least for a little while. And check on the search for Jaime and Rudy."

"You got it," Russ promised, heading back down the dock as two uniformed officers arrived to take Oscar onto the boat.

Oscar could barely breathe as they walked into the lower cabin, where all five bodies lay covered with Navy-issued blankets. _I gave them this vacation, _he thought miserably, walking past the first four bodies. _Dammit, __**why **__did I have to suggest a cruise? It's all my fault, Pal – I am so sorry..._

"Are you ready?" the Medical Officer asked, very quietly.

Oscar nodded, unable to form the words. He closed his eyes for a second as the officer began drawing back the blanket, then braced himself to look upon the face of his friend. Except...

"My God, that's not Steve Austin!" he exclaimed, relief flooding down to the edges of his very soul. "That's Barney Hiller!"

- - - - - -

The 'cave' was tiny, with barely enough room for the three of them, but it was all they had. Not even a cave, really; it was more of an low overhang at the bottom of the tallest section of rock, and they crouched beneath it for cover with the cushions standing up in front of them to try and prevent the lightning from being drawn to bionic limbs.

Jaime sat with both of her arms circling Steve's body and her head on his chest. His left arm held her close, and Rudy sat to his right, eying Steve's badly-damaged arm and keeping a close watch on both of his patients. Jaime was very pale, obviously beyond exhaustion, but kept talking softly to Steve, trying to keep him from fading. Steve answered her occasionally, with a nod or a few words, but was clearly in trouble and getting worse by the hour.

"They'll never find us in here," Jaime told Rudy wistfully. "We should be out there, trying to make a signal fire...or...something."

"In the rain?" Rudy pointed out. "Honey, it would never stay lit and with all the lightning, you or Steve wouldn't last more than a few minutes. You know that."

It seemed like a hopeless, vicious circle. To stay safe, they had to remain hidden, and to attempt to be rescued would jeopardize their very lives. Silent tears of frustration and fear coursed down Jaime's cheeks and Steve raised his head to kiss her, rubbing her back softly before falling back into oblivion.

- - - - - -

Oscar viewed the other four bodies before leaving the Navy boat, since he was familiar with SnowBird2's entire crew. Although they wore the uniforms, none of these men were staff members and Oscar knew something catastrophic had happened about the yacht.

"It isn't Steve," he told Russ, who stood waiting on the dock, "or any of our crew either. Any word from the search teams?"

"They found the lifeboat," Russ said in a grim voice as they walked back to the command center.

"And?"

"Empty. No occupants, no gear."

"Well, maybe they're nearby," Oscar suggested, focusing on the only ray of hope he could grab.

Russ nodded. "They found it in an area with a few very small land masses nearby, spread out over the course of about 20 square miles. We're focusing the search there now, but they aren't mapped or even charted, so it's slow going, trying to find them all. If there were any survivors, maybe they found one of them somehow and got themselves out of the water."

"If? Russ, of course there are survivors! There _have _to be! I want you to get me on a boat. I'm going out there -"

"The weather's too rough now; water's too choppy. I can't in good conscience -"

Oscar turned back to watch as the five bodies were being carried from the waiting Navy vessel. Once they were fully unloaded and the boat re-stocked with supplies, it would be headed back out to re-join the search teams. "Then I guess I'm going with them." Without another word, Oscar headed back to the dock and boarded the boat, with Russ following anxiously behind him.

- - - - - -


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The wind was relentless and cruel, and Jaime was barely able to keep the three cushions in place in front of their 'cave'. Rudy cut a short length from their rope and lashed them into a single shield, but even with his grip to aid Jaime's, the rain was coming in sideways sheets and soon the cushions were torn from their grasp and headed out of sight.

Jaime sighed and pulled Steve's legs as far out of harm's way as she could manage. It seemed like forever since he'd moved at all or made any sound and Jaime was devastated. She looked over at Rudy with pleading, tear-filled eyes. "Isn't there anything you can do for him?"

"In the hospital – or even my lab – absolutely, but here...at least he's not in pain right now." Rudy began rummaging through the rucksacks. "You should eat something, Honey. We've got tuna, fruit cocktail, cheese -"

"I'm not hungry," she answered sadly, accepting the bottle of water and taking a long drink.

"Well, you need to keep up your strength." He handed her the tuna and took out two forks. "I'll split it with you."

"Do we have a can opener? Oh...never mind." Jaime circled the lid with her fingernail and tossed it out onto the sand. She took a few bites and passed the can to Rudy. Steve shifted, stretching his legs out toward the sand, and Jaime gently pulled them in again, just in time. The lightning struck inches from their bodies, just outside of the rocks, and Jaime shuddered, pulling Steve into a seated position against her body with his legs on Rudy's lap.

"I love you, Jaime," he mumbled, just before going limp in her arms.

- - - - - -

It had taken several hours to reach the area where the lifeboat had been drifting, and one-by-one, the Navy team, accompanied by Oscar and Russ, scoured every inch of the tiny land masses for any sign of the missing trio. "You'd be safer down below, Sir," the captain suggested to Oscar as they were pelted by sheets of rain and the boat was thrown about among the whitecaps.

"Are these the best binoculars aboard?" Oscar asked, ignoring the captain's remark.

"All we have are the best, Sir, but really, I think you should -"

"Thank you." Oscar moved to the very bow of the boat, trying to spot anything that wasn't water. Russ stood directly behind him with his hands tight on the railing to keep both of them from being blown off their feet. "It might as well be midnight," Oscar shouted over the roaring storm. "I can't see a damn thing!"

"Oscar, look out!" Russ stepped between his boss and the huge, flapping object that seemed to come from nowhere. He wrestled it out of the grasp of the wind and pinned it to the deck of the boat, where they both stared at it in shock and complete surprise.

"Cushions?" Russ said in a puzzled voice.

"I think they're from SnowBird2!" Oscar exclaimed. He looked at the object more carefully. "There's three of them; maybe that means -"

"They each grabbed one, or someone tied them all together to make a raft of some kind."

"If they each had one, then they're still alive!"

"Or...they were. Oscar, they don't have 'em anymore. I don't want to be the voice of doom, but they may have used them until -"

Oscar had already gathered up the cushions and was heading back to find the captain. "We have to go that way," he demanded, pointing the captain's gaze in the direction the cushions had come from.

"You want me to go directly _into _the storm? That's crazy!"

Oscar pushed him aside. "We don't have time to argue," he insisted, grabbing the controls himself and turning the boat around. "Let's go!"

- - - - - -

They had finally managed to wedge Steve into the back portion of the overhang, where he wouldn't topple over into the sand outside, and Rudy and Jaime both leaned back, too tired to move anymore. Suddenly, Jaime sat bolt upright. "I hear something!" She closed her eyes to listen and then sank back to where she was, dejected. "I guess not." But...there it was again: the foghorn of a Navy vessel, sounding out over the rain, wind and thunder. This time, Rudy heard it, too. "They'll never see us in here!" Jaime cried.

Before Rudy could stop her, Jaime rolled out of their pseudo-shelter and onto the sand, running along the length of the land strip, waving her arms in the air and calling out toward the ocean. "Here we are! We're here!"

The lightning was dangerously close, but when the foghorn sounded again, Rudy knew there was no way he'd be able to get Jaime back under the rocks. He joined her out on the sand, just in time to see the hull of the boat coming straight toward them. Its bow light was blinking on and off; they'd seen them! It drew directly up to the little island and Rudy caught a mooring rope that Russ tossed over the side. He wound it tightly around a tall rock then hugged Jaime before they both headed back under the rocks to get Steve.

- - - - - -


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

While Rudy and the medical officer began tending to Steve, Jaime waited in the captain's office with Oscar. He remained in the part of her life that was still completely foreign and lost to her, and Jaime felt awkward and a little intimidated, knowing he held so much power. The jogging suit she'd been given to change into, while comfortable and dry, was about three sizes too big and only increased her self-consciousness.

Oscar smiled warmly, trying to put her at ease. "Steve'll be alright," he said softly, hoping it was true. "He's in good hands."

Jaime nodded miserably, forcing herself not to cry. "Rudy took care of both of us while we were...out there."

Oscar's heart broke for her; she'd been through so much, even before this happened. She looked so frightened, so vulnerable, that he longed to wrap her in a big, comforting bear hug but he knew that to this Jaime, he was still a stranger. "Can I get you anything?" he offered, placing a gentle, paternal hand on her shoulder. "A sandwich, maybe, or some coffee?"

"They gave me some soup while they were checking me over, but thank you. That's very sweet." She finally dared to look fully into his face. His eyes, his entire expression was so kind, and not at all like the cold-blooded bureaucrat she'd expected.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through this," Oscar told her. "If there's anything I can do – for either of you -"

Russ knocked on the open door and handed Jaime a glass of orange juice. "Rudy sent this," he explained. He handed Oscar a cup of coffee. "And I thought you could use this."

"Did you...see Steve?" Jaime asked, her voice quivering.

Russ nodded. "He's still unconscious, but they're working on him now. There's a Medivac chopper waiting at the docks to take both of you – and Rudy – to National. They'll get him straight to surgery, and hopefully he'll be just fine -"

"Thank you, Russ," Oscar replied, wishing his assistant could've left out the word 'hopefully'. "Keep us posted, alright?"

"You got it."

Oscar turned back toward Jaime, who was quietly sipping her juice. "Rudy told me how you pulled them both through the water, to get to the island. I'm really proud of you, and I know they'll be a medal -"

"I don't want one," Jaime protested. "We _all_ did what we had to do. The only thing I want now is for Steve to be okay..."

- - - - - -

Steve was immediately prepped for surgery upon arriving at National. Jaime was admitted too, but it would've been impossible to keep her in her bed. Once she'd changed into a hospital gown and robe, Oscar helped her into a wheelchair so they could sit together in the small waiting room just outside the OR, for the first available word on Steve's condition.

Jaime protested mildly that she was perfectly capable of walking, but in truth now that the adrenaline had worn off, she felt much better sitting down. Once Oscar got her situated, he went back down the hall to Rudy's office and returned with two mugs of coffee, one of them containing a very special ingredient.

Jaime sipped her coffee and smiled at him for the first time. "How'd you know I like cocoa in my coffee? Oh...yeah. I forget sometimes that you and Rudy know me a lot better than I know you."

"Rudy keeps a tin of cocoa right next to his coffee maker," Oscar told her. "There's one in my office, too."

Jaime reached out and touched Oscar's hand. "Thank you; you've been so good to me today."

"You're very welcome – anytime."

Jaime could tell from the warmth of his voice that Oscar really meant it. "Tell me about this Barney person," she requested. "I mean, I know how he became bionic, and that he was 'deactivated' – although I don't like the way that word sounds – but why...?"

"Why did he do this?" Oscar clarified. Jaime nodded. "I can only speculate, but his wife left him, his business went under and his life was pretty much in ruins. Apparently, he blamed Rudy, Steve and myself for everything that went wrong."

"But you're the reason he even _had _a life anymore!" Jaime exclaimed. "You gave him a second chance, and he's the one who blew it."

Oscar looked at her carefully. "You know that you had a lot of physical problems at first, adjusting to your bionics, right?" Jaime nodded. "Well, Barney had problems too, but they were emotional and mental problems and it appears he never got over that."

"He must've been so confused...but he said he didn't need money. So he wasn't gonna..." she swallowed hard "sell us."

"No," Oscar confirmed. "We think he believed I'd be on that cruise with Rudy and Steve, and his plan was to kill the three of us in retaliation and then himself as well. He had backers who may have believed they'd be taking home a gold mine, but -"

"But once they helped him, he killed them," Jaime concluded. "Sad...all around."

"I'm just so sorry you ended up in the middle of it," Oscar said quietly.

"I'll be ok," Jaime told him, taking his hand this time. "I've got you for a friend."

- - - - - -


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Rudy emerged from the OR much sooner than expected and Jaime's heart sank. Had something gone wrong? Oscar sensed her fear and clasped her hands firmly in his own.

"He's stable," Rudy began, "that's the good news."

Jaime could barely speak. "And the...other...news?"

"His arm is shot; no way to repair it. The salt water did too much damage. We had to remove it, and we've got a replacement ready, but he's just not strong enough for the extensive surgery now."

"What about rejection?" Oscar queried.

"No signs of it yet, but we'll be watching him closely. In a few days, when he's had a chance to rest and build up a little strength, we'll replace the arm."

"Can I see him?" Jaime asked, very quietly.

"He'll be out at least until morning, and probably until lunchtime, Honey," Rudy replied. "Right now, we need to get you back to your room. I'll check you over, and then it's lights out for tonight. You need your rest."

The doctor looked toward Oscar. "I'll meet you in my office in a few minutes, alright?"

Oscar nodded. He had a pot of fresh coffee waiting when Rudy re-joined him. "How's our girl?" he asked.

"She's finally asleep. I gave her a good, strong sedative to make sure she stays in bed. No injuries to speak of, but she's beyond exhaustion. Anyone else wouldn't have made it this far without collapsing."

"She's a strong woman," Oscar concurred.

"Yes, she is. When we were in that cave, she never panicked. We talked for a long time, about Barney and about bionics in general. I think she understands how everything works a lot more clearly now."

"This wasn't exactly the bonding experience I had in mind when I sent you on vacation together, but -"

"But we did okay," Rudy concluded, "all things considered."

Oscar shook his head. "Better than okay; all things considered, it was miraculous."

- - - - - -

Two days after receiving his new arm, Steve was propped up in bed and smiling. Jaime, newly-released from the hospital herself, giggled and it was music to his very soul.

"Park Place with a hotel," she chuckled. "That comes to -"

"More than I have," he conceded. "You win. Again."

Jaime perched herself on the edge of his bed, gazing happily into his eyes. "We're both here, alive and in one piece; I'd say we both win this time."

Steve pulled her closer, demonstrating just how much his energy had returned in the last 24 hours as his lips met hers, softly at first and deepening as she leaned into his embrace. Passion and desire threatened to overwhelm them until they suddenly remembered where they were and came up for air. "What I said to you on that island..." Steve began hesitantly. He didn't want to pressure her or push things further or faster than Jaime was ready for, but after all they'd been through, he couldn't _not _tell her. "I meant that, you know. I love you, Jaime. You really are the only woman I'll ever love."

Jaime's grin seemed to light her whole face. "And here I was worried it was the pain talking."

"What?"

"I love you, too, Steve – and I _need _you. I can't imaginefeeling this way about anyone else." Jaime cradled Steve's face in her hands, caressing him with her fingertips. "I don't ever wanna lose you..."

"No worries there, Sweetheart."

"Steve...I wanna be your wife."

"What?"

"If that's still what you want, I mean."

"Sweetheart, that's Boardwalk, Park Place and all the railroads all tied up in a big red bow! And you're right – this time, we both win. For keeps."

END


End file.
